Brussels, 03/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Danish labour court ruled on Wednesday 1 July that Ryanair employees can take industrial action against their employer. The action was over the airline's refusal to sign a collective agreement with Danish trade unions.
In line with the court's decision, from Monday 6 July, workers will have the right to stage a range of actions, such as not refuelling aircraft and not handling baggage.
In March 2015, Irish low-cost airline Ryanair announced that it was opening a new base in Denmark but refused to open negotiations with the Danish air crew union, FPU, on a collective agreement. The wages and working conditions offered by Ryanair are far below Danish standards, the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) points out.
“We congratulate the Danish trade unions who have achieved this victory which is of great importance for the whole European aircrew community. Ryanair will finally be forced to respect the law”, stated Elisabetta Chicca, who chairs the ETF cabin crew committee.
The victory may be short-lived, however, as Reuters reported on Friday 3 July that Ryanair had announced its intention to move its one Copenhagen-based aircraft out of the country. The company says that its decision to withdraw would mean that airport employees would not be able to refuse to look after its aircraft, the crews of which were not Denmark-based.
This is not the first dispute between Denmark and Ryanair. The company has been found guilty on a number of occasions of misleading advertising. (Pascal Hansens)